At length, after moving in several directions, the young hunter came to a spot that looked slightly familiar to him. He made a circle of the point, and finally recognized it as the very spot he had come to with White Buffalo when he and the Indian were on the way to the fort with little Nell and the twins.
“Well, I never thought I’d see this place again!” he murmured, half aloud. “I wish I had White Buffalo with me now. I’d feel a heap safer than I do.”
He now knew how to reach the fort, and resolved to follow that course until he should come to the point where the trail crossed that which he and Henry had taken after leaving the lake to go after the buffalo. Then he would follow up the buffalo trail to where his cousin had been left.
He tramped on and on, growing bolder as he saw nothing more of his red enemy. It was well past noon, and he munched some of the rations in his game bag, washing down the hasty meal with more water from a brook.
He was almost up to the spot where the fight between the buffalo and the bear had occurred when he suddenly heard the murmur of voices, conversing in the Indian language. Looking to one side of the clearing, he made out four Indians, one of whom was the fellow who had deprived him of his rifle and hunting knife.
The discovery came as a shock to Dave, and once again his heart sank within him. He had presence of mind enough to leap behind some bushes, and a moment later the red men passed within three yards of him. Then he heard a cry from the Indians, followed by an exclamation from Henry.
“They have found him!” thought Dave, and he was right. The four red men came upon poor Henry just as he was putting on his shoe, preparatory to looking for his cousin. One leaped forward, pinning the young hunter to the rocks, and in a twinkling the four had made him a prisoner and disarmed him.
“What does this mean?” demanded Henry, although he knew only too well. “Let up, I say!” But the Indians paid no attention. One carried a length of rawhide and with this they bound the young hunter’s hands behind him. Then his pockets were searched, and they took from him the three shillings and sixpence he happened to be carrying.
After the capture, the four Indians held a consultation among themselves. It was in their native tongue, so that Henry could understand next to nothing.
“White boy come with Indians,” said the red man who could speak English. He had joined his brother warriors after giving up the chase after Dave.